


Options

by Macx



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-23
Updated: 2011-05-23
Packaged: 2017-10-19 17:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/203478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macx/pseuds/Macx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>episode tag to Minefield</p>
            </blockquote>





	Options

 

His leg didn’t hurt.  
Much.  
Well, really.  
Not much at all.  
More like a bothersome itch. With a little sting – and a tremendous jolt of agony should he dare put weight on it.  
But otherwise, it was totally fine.  
Really.  
So why didn’t anyone believe him?  
Why didn’t Phlox believe him?  
Malcolm Reed sighed and ran a hand through his thick, dark hair. He sat on one of the biobeds, dressed in loose sweat pants and a t-shirt, glaring at the hapless floor. Two days stuck in sickbay, one where he hadn’t even been aware of much but the blurry shapes around him.  
Phlox had transported him straight from the hangar to the sickbay, giving him another heavy anesthetic that had knocked him out completely, and then proceeded to remove the spike from the mine. When he had come to again, almost a day had passed. The spike in his leg had been gone, but a large wound remained. It was red and puffy, the edges still quite pronounced, despite Phlox’s treatment. It would take a while, the doctor had told him, most likely leave a scar on both the entry and the exit side. Malcolm didn’t care, as long as he got use of his leg back.  
“Now, Lieutenant, no reason to look so glum,” Phlox said cheerfully. “Considering the damage done to your leg, it is healing very nicely.”  
The damage done being a spike going right through his thigh and nicking the bone. While Archer had told him the spike had missed the bone, a more detailed scan done by Phlox had shown it had actually still scraped along its surface.  
“So when can I leave?”  
“As soon as I have completed the last checks, but you will be off duty for a while. You cannot put any weight on your leg right now.”  
Malcolm tried not to glower at the doctor. He was truly grateful about what Phlox had done, but he needed to be out of here. He wanted to be back on duty. There was so much to do! Enterprise had taken a bad hit and parts of it were missing. The mine had blown a substantial part out of the saucer section and everyone was busy keeping the hatches secured and repairing what could be repaired on the decks above, below and around the hole. Engineering was an ant hill of activity and the Armory was no better. Every capable engineer was working on the severe damage.  
And he was stuck in sickbay. Or his quarters. Take a pick.  
Blast!  
“Lieutenant, you had massive surgery,” Phlox added, voice suddenly grave. “Removing the spike has left you with severe trauma to your thigh, as well as your whole body. You need to rest, gather your strength, let your body regain lost substance. You have been under a lot of duress.”  
Malcolm sighed deeply. “I know.”  
“Sitting here, with the medication running through your system, you probably feel ‘fine’,” the Denoblian added, smiling. “But getting from sickbay to your quarters will most likely be as strenuous as running a marathon.”  
“I’ll see to it that he won’t run one,” a new voice drawled.  
Malcolm looked up and smiled a genuine smile as he discovered Commander Tucker entering sickbay.  
“Thank you, Commander.” Phlox nodded at him. “Mr. Reed needs rest. The medication he is supposed to take is on this list.” He handed a PADD over to Tucker, as well as a small pack of pills. “See to it that he follows the prescription. I also want him back for regular physical therapy on that leg. We need to start building up the muscle again.”  
“Aye, aye.” Trip grinned.  
Malcolm shot him a dark look. They were talking about him as if he wasn’t even there. Great. “And how about you get that thing out as well,” he growled.  
“He will come out on his own,” Phlox only answered cheerfully.  
Trip shot him a quizzical look.  
“Don’t ask,” Reed mumbled.  
Phlox, still smiling, held out a crutch to the dark-haired man. Malcolm’s expression darkened even more.  
“Use it, or I’ll see you back here by tomorrow,” the doctor simply said.  
Trip took the crutch. “He will use it, doc. No sweat.”  
“Thank you, Commander.”  
With that they were left alone.  
“Shall we?” Tucker asked.  
Malcolm nodded and slid off the bed. The moment his left leg made floor contact, taking on weight, it started to buckle. With a gasp he grabbed onto the biobed. Strong arms came around him, securing his waist, holding him. Malcolm had no other choice than to fall against Trip, who easily compensated for the man in his arms.  
“Whow, Mal, easy there.”  
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he managed, forcing his right leg to take his weight.  
Half held by his lover, he finally regained his balance. Trip pressed a little kiss to his forehead. “Sure. An’ Enterprise’s in prime condition. Crutch?”  
The hated device was pressed into his hands and Malcolm grudgingly took it.  
Progress towards his quarters was slow and straining. He was limping badly and each wrong step sent pain through his abused leg. Malcolm was close to calling it quits by the time they made it. Trip was hovering at his side, hand on the small of his back, and keyed in the access code. Malcolm was grateful for it. He had no more strength left in his body.  
Sinking slowly and painfully onto his bed, he closed his eyes. He was sweating slightly, his leg was pulsing with pain, and all he wanted was to lay down and die. Even his breathing had quickened and he tried to control it.  
A gentle hand stroking over his cheek and down his jaw roused him slightly. Worried blue eyes met his tired gaze.  
“You in for one?” Trip asked softly and held up the medication.  
“Yes, please.”  
Tucker removed a pill from the bottle Phlox had given Malcolm earlier, then got some water. His lover took it eagerly. Anything to make the pain go away. Usually he hated the heavy anesthetics, but right now, he was grateful for every little bit of relief that was given.  
The crutch was carefully removed from his grip – he hadn’t even been aware of still holding it – and Trip made up the bed.  
“C’mon,” he coaxed. “Lay down.”  
Reed did so and was surprised when Trip crawled in with him. He was cushioned against the warmth of his lover, Trip’s legs left and right of him. Using the pillows from the bed, Trip lifted Malcolm’s bad leg onto them. He suppressed a moan when that movement jostled the limb again.  
“Okay?” the blond asked.  
“Very,” came the soft reply. “Thank you.”  
“Hey, that’s what I’m here for.”  
Strong hands stroked over his clothed chest and arms, down to his hands. Fingers entwined and a kiss was placed first against his neck, then his temple.  
“Mal?”  
“Hm?”  
“You asleep?”  
“Yes, actually I am,” came the mild, amused reply.  
“Oh, okay.”  
Reed tightened his hold on Trip’s hands and brought them together on his stomach. He liked the warmth they radiated, relaxing him even further. The touch of his lover always did that; calmed him. More than anything or anyone else.  
They had been together since after the shuttlepod incident. It had been a strange match, one made of opposite personalities, and in the beginning, Reed hadn’t really thought about what the future might bring. There had been the lust, the bodily craving for the blond engineer, but that had soon developed into so much more. They had come from a physical relationship into something that was hard to define. He loved Trip, with everything he had. He couldn’t explain, he didn’t want to explain it, and whatever it was, it was still growing stronger.  
“What is it?” he wanted to know.  
“I was just wondering.”  
“About?”  
Lips nuzzled the hair around his temple. “You and the Captain?”  
There was a brief moment of silence. “I beg your pardon?” the Brit finally asked.  
Him and Archer? What about them? Trip wouldn’t really think there was anything going on, would he? It wasn’t as if Reed spent a lot of time with the captain. The opposite was true. They interacted on a purely professional level; nothing more, nothing less.  
“Well, he invited you over for breakfast.”  
“He wanted to get to know me,” Malcolm explained.  
“So?”  
“Hm?”  
“Did he?”  
“Well, he asked a lot of questions. And discussed sports.”  
“That’s the Cap’n for ya,” Trip laughed.  
“I felt… inadequate. I’m not interested in sports.”  
“I beg to differ, Lieutenant. You are into one sport.”  
Malcolm chuckled. “I doubt the captain wants to know about that in detail.”  
“Knowin’ him… uh… one never knows.”  
Archer had found out about their relationship some time ago, and while he hadn’t been completely convinced back then that the two men were into something very serious, he was now. They weren’t getting any heat about being a couple, though some watched them more closely than others. Malcolm didn’t care; not any more.  
Reed let his fingers play over the smooth skin of Tucker’s hands. “It was just awkward… Especially later, while being pinned to Enterprise’s hull… He kept talking, asking questions… ”  
Trip chuckled. “Jon once told me he can relax when making small talk.”  
“He told me the same.”  
“There ya go.”  
“It was awkward,” Malcolm simply repeated.  
“Said you don’t like fraternizin’ with your superiors,” Tucker went on, a light teasing note in his voice. “Say, whatcha call what we’re doin’?”  
“Loving each other?”  
“Damn right we do,” was the fervent reply and Trip lowered his head to nip at his lover’s ear. “Very much.”  
“I just wasn’t very… comfortable about Captain Archer knowing… private things about me,” Malcolm sighed, shifting a little. He stifled a soft groan.  
“Like what? You’re a blanket hog? You are obsessed about lookin’ smart’n neat all the time?” Tucker teased. “That you’re madly in love with things that blow up or go boom?”  
“Moron,” was the loving reply.  
“All yours.” Trip played with a strand of hair. “So? Was he pokin’ around our love life?”  
“No. More like my family life. Like why I didn’t join the Navy, follow my father and grandfather’s footsteps.”  
“Ya told him?”  
“Yes.”  
Tucker kissed him again, lips pressing against his temple. “No harm in lettin’ him know about your hydrophobia.”  
Malcolm shrugged slightly. “I’m not comfortable with it,” he repeated.  
“I know ‘bout it.”  
“That’s different.”  
“How? I’m your superior as well. Technically speakin’.”  
“You’re also someone very close to me. Part of me.”  
Malcolm felt the smile more than he could see it out of the corners of his eyes.  
Silence descended again.  
“I wish I had been out there with you,” Trip murmured after a while. “I’m the engineer. I coulda helped.”  
“That’s why you were needed at your post.”  
“You been talkin’ to the cap’n? He told me the same thing.”  
Malcolm twisted his head slightly to look into the blue eyes of his lover. “Oh? A very intelligent man, our captain.”  
“Hmpf. Still din’t like it.”  
“You didn’t have to like it, Trip, you had to follow orders.”  
“Like you?” Tucker shot back. “I know what you did out there!”  
“I guided the captain through defusing a mine,” the Armory Officer answered calmly.  
“No, you were tryin’ t’play hero, a martyr! Rippin’ out your air supply hoses!” Real anger seeped into the blond’s voice, the accent thickening. “You were committin’ suicide, Malcolm! Pure’n simple!”  
Malcolm sighed and closed his eyes. His body had stiffened involuntarily throughout the enraged flow of words and he tried to wriggle out of the embrace. He didn’t need this right now; not on top of his injuries.  
A sharp pain in his leg let him groan involuntarily. He curled up automatically. One pill was not enough to numb everything and he knew he had to take another soon. Phlox had warned him about sudden, jerky movements.  
Trip sighed explosively and held on to him. “Malcolm, please, relax. I’m sorry. I’m… sorry.” He rested his head on the soft, thick hair. “Sorry. I was just so… angry… scared… You were out there… hurt… next to that damned mine. An’ I was in here. Helpless. And then the Cap’n told me… he said you were tryin’ ta…. Kill yourself,” he choked on the words. “Gawd, I’m so sorry…”  
Reed relaxed marginally and sank back against his lover. He was shivering slightly. “I was scared, too, Trip,” he whispered. “For you, for the captain, for everyone. If that mine had gone off, all would have died. I couldn’t let that happen. It was a logical choice after a thorough analysis.”  
“It was wrong,” Tucker replied hoarsely. “So absolutely wrong.” He buried his head in Malcolm’s hair again.  
“At the time, I didn’t see any other option.”  
“Jon did.”  
“In my eyes, and with all due respect, it was foolish.”  
Trip laughed softly, but without real humor. “Maybe. But you should know him by now. Foolish is always an option.”  
“I gathered as much. We had… an argument concerning that… and more. Sorry, Trip.”  
Trip breathed in, exhaling slowly. “I don’t wanna lose you, Mal. Not to somethin’ so stupid. Options or no options.”  
“Trip…”  
Tucker squeezed him briefly. “Please. Don’t start goin’ all heroic on me again. You’re not expendable. No one is. Listen to the options. Don’t just… assume…”  
The other man was silent for a moment, then nodded. He turned his head and Trip met the lips in a semi-kiss. Due to their positions, it was rather sloppy.  
“I love you, you stupid, stubborn, pig-headed Brit,” the engineer whispered. “I wanna love you for a lot longer. Can’t do that with bits’n pieces of you strewn all over space.”  
Malcolm laughed. “What a heartfelt declaration.” He entwined their hands again. “The feeling is very much mutual. Same with the stupid, stubborn and pig-headed part.”  
Tucker grinned. Silence fell again. A more comfortable silence. Malcolm was snuggling back into his lover again.  
“Mal?” Trip asked after a while, hands taking up a soothing caress and stroking pattern on his lover’s body.  
“Hm?” came a semi-awake reply.  
“What did the doc mean ‘bout ‘he will come out on its own’”?  
Malcolm sighed softly. “You know Phlox’s treatments. Some of his methods involve live … things.”  
“Yeah. And….?”  
“It’s a Regulan bloodworm.”  
Trip blinked, then snorted with laughter.  
“Very funny,” Malcolm grumbled. “You don’t have some alien life form crawling around your insides!”  
He winced when a muscle spasmed.  
Trip chuckled and twisted out underneath his lover. “Time for another one o’ those happy pills,” he explained.  
“Oh joy.”  
“Don’t tell me ya wanna go without one, Mal. I know you’re in pain. Doc said two of ‘em within one hour. Hour’s up.”  
“I know,” the lieutenant sighed.  
He took the painkiller without much fuss and Trip grinned. Malcolm sank back onto the mattress, looking up at the amused, blue-eyed man. Tucker leaned down and their lips touched. Malcolm met the kiss with as much strength as he could in his weakened state, which was still quite a lot.  
“Stay?” he asked softly.  
“Mal, you’re in no shape…”  
“I’m not planning on ravishing you.”  
Trip grinned. “And here I was in the mood for some ravishin’.”  
Malcolm made a little beckoning motion with his finger. “Then come on in. There’s enough room.”  
“Malcolm…”  
“Just… stay… Please? I… don’t want to lay here alone.”  
Trip sighed. “Damn, I hate it when you beg. You got that… that.. almost-puppy look.”  
“Almost?”  
“Yep. Almost.”  
There was really enough room. They had managed to get a bigger bed for both of them. It wasn’t the size of the captain’s, but it comfortably held two people. Still, Trip was clearly afraid he would jostle his lover’s leg unconsciously. Finally he shrugged and carefully slipped back into the bed. He settled down beside Malcolm and Reed did his best to find a comfortable position, which was almost impossible. He finally found one, at least semi-comfortable, and Trip pressed a kiss against his lips.  
“Sleep well,” he murmured.  
“With the amount of painkillers I now have coursing through my system, I surely will,” was the dry reply.  
Tucker chuckled and curled up next to him, a wonderfully familiar source of warmth. Malcolm tugged at his blanket and finally closed his eyes, allowing himself to relax into sleep.


End file.
